Bridgestone J40 430 Driver REVIEW

This driver is a deep faced, low spin machine. Being honest I’ve never played a Bridgestone club in my life but have to say this one has made an incredible first impression. Sleek lines with a slightly squared toe leaves this driver begging to be worked both left and right. If what you are looking for is a more traditional head that from the top looks more like 380cc instead of 400 plus this is your stick.

Cons-

This driver is made for the better player that wants to work the ball rather then straight down the fairway. Although this driver has some forgiveness it’s more vertical then horizontal so anyone who’s not consistent in the ball striking department may want to opt for the 445cc head.

Bottom Line-

This driver has shocked me. This is my introduction in the world of Bridgestone clubs and as I stated above I’m impressed. As a result I will be looking hard into the J40 irons as well. Low Spin, Low launch with a lot of workability, I’m all in. Combine that with a stock real deal Project X shaft and it’s time to launch some missiles.

Review:

Looks-

As I said above the club is drop dead sexy. The J40 430 has a traditional pear shaped crown that is clean as a whistle with no alignment aid or any other distracting graphics. The sole of the club just looks down right mean. Looking down at this club inspires confidence and accuracy. It looks sub 400 from the top which is what we’ve all been asking for from an OEM. Well Bridgestone listened and delivered. At address the driver sits dead square and brings you back to the days before we had refrigerators on a broom stick. This is the first driver in years that actually has modern tech in a traditional, workable head.

Performance-

Although sometimes looks are enough for some of us on Golfwrx the club actually performs even better. The 430 head combined with real deal Project X shafts creates a low to mid trajectory launch while maintaining low spin. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, the perfect match. At the time of writing this review I’ve played 5 rounds and 3 practice sessions with this driver and went so far as to take the 3wood out of the bag to see if I could hit this driver using 3 quarter shots, up, down, left, right, sideways, and highways haha You name it I did it. Bottom line is the club did everything Bridgestone claims it would. I was actually able to work a draw just as easily as a fade. I was also able to hit stinger type shots off the tee to keep the ball under the wind. I had FUN off the tee again. I forgot how fun it is to work the golf ball with a wood. I also have to note this thing is LOW spin. I’ve been know to impart too much spin with drivers so this is a great head for me. Tee shots bored through the wind with ease.

Feel-

Feel is subjective and with drivers it’s something I’m very sensitive to. I’m a fan of more muted drivers that tend to feel very solid at impact. The J40 430 gets real close to being ideal. This driver has a small ting to it but feels extremely solid. It also feels a bit lighter then what I normally play so I will most likely add some hotmelt or cotton to the head as I also play drivers a bit shorter then today’s standard. For me sound and feel are almost the same thing so I typically hotmelt all of my drivers as I’m always looking for a driver that sounds like a persimmon wood lol. Either way the 430 for most will sound great.. For those that like a very muted sound you will need to add a dab or two of hotmelt or some cotton to adjust it to your liking. And the Project X shaft as we all know is super stable and compliments the J40 quite nicely. What you get is a smooth yet stable driver. Perfect combo.

Overall Bottom Line:

I AM SOLD. Bridgestone has made a believer out of me and I’m now looking into the J40 PC irons. My previous gamer was the R11 which isn’t getting kicked to the curb but instead sharing space with a new friend. As you can see below I’m done a few comparision pics with my R11 to help see shape and size. So moving forward and depending on course and conditions I will be further experimenting with both drivers to see who will be king of the hill. Have to say I haven’t been this excited about a driver in a long time. Working the ball off the tee is tons of fun and I darn near forgot how to do it. Clubs today are designed to be maxed out in size and want the ball coming off the face straight as an arrow. That is all well and good but when you’re playing at a high level and need to work the ball the big block heads don’t help. If you want a pear shaped clean crown with modern tech, low spin, and low-mid trajectory, BUY THIS DRIVER. Now the only thing I need is an old balata and I’ll really be working it !

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